Family Unit
by spring screwdriver
Summary: A lost brother, a baby and a new friend bring Alec and Max a new set of trouble, their own family. It's up to them to decide what kind of family they are.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or any of it's characters.

A/N: I've never written a Dark Angel story before but when the inspiration strikes this is what you get.

* * *

The screams "Alec's been shot!" ran through the command center. 541 ignored them while lowering the hurt X5 slowly on his knees.

"We're here. We're safe," 541 whispered to his friend.

"John, take the kid. Find Max. It's now your job," the green eyes stared at him, more serious than ever before. "Protect him. Promise me!"

"I'll protect him. I promise. I'll also kick your ass if you die now," 541, John, swore and ran his fingers through his hair, clearly not happy.

"Deal." Shot and tired, the green eyes closed as he fell down, unconscious. John managed to grab him so that he would land on the concrete floor softly, not hurting himself more.

John stared at his friend for a second longer and then put up his manticore walls. Completely focused on the mission thrusted upon him, 541 opened his friend's, his hurt best friend's, jacket and carefully lifted a baby with black hair, bee-stung lips and green eyes.

The baby didn't need to focus on him to know something was wrong. The air was cold compared to X5 body heat, the smell of blood penetrated everything and shouts of "Medic!" replaced the steady beat of a heart. The small face scrunched up and a half a second later a piercing cry could be heard across the command center as other transgenics rushed to stop the bleeding.

"It's okay, kid. Don't worry. He'll be fine. Hey, he's been through worse. This is nothing," 541 said with a soft voice as he tried to calm the less than month old baby down. His eyes, however, told everyone who was looking, that he didn't quite believe it himself. "He'll be alright in no time."

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A/N: Short and sweet, meant to be that way.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: A new chapter. Longer than the last one, I hope it pleases you dear readers. Love the input, seeing that I don't know where this is going. I don't know why I'm posting this instead of going to sleep (early wake up tomorrow) so I would love some reviews for my effort. And, if anyone is interested being my beta, PM me. On with the story...

* * *

Max turned quickly, automatically taking a fighting stance, as the door to her apartment flew open. X6's run came to a halt, the slight fear in his eyes fading but only a bit. The thought 'Max knows what to do' came to his mind.

Max relaxed and dropped the stance. Noticing Dalton's worried look, the way he came in, she knew something was wrong. "Dalton, what is it?"

"Max, it's Alec. He's been shot. He came in early with another X5, a baby and three bullet holes," he explained, his voice cracking. He admitted he was scared. Alec had become his big brother and might now die.

"What?" Max's mind quickly went over the raid Alec went. It was simple. Hit the warehouse with only one camera as a security and come back with some paint, plaster and plywood for the construction crew. He took a handful of X6's with him, to teach them more about covert ops.

"He's in surgery right now," Dalton told her and the fear in Max's eyes diminished. He wasn't dead. Not yet.

"I'm going to see him. Mole's in charge till I get back!" And with that she ran out of the apartment. Dalton hadn't had the chance to tell her about the new guy or the baby.

oOo

After the bleeding X5 had been taken away eyes quickly turned to the stranger holding the screaming baby. He was getting on his knees while rummaging through a backpack for some clothes. Gently wrapping the baby in some of them, he managed to turn long sleeved shirts into a makeshift baby sling. Now in a warm and cozy and most importantly familiar smelling sling, the baby's cry quickly turned into soft sniffles. One hand on the sling, keeping the baby secure, the guy briefly smiled at the baby, while getting back up and then looked around.

Mole raised his shot gun at the strange guy while three other transgenics, two X6s and a transhuman, did the same. The guy's reflexes were just as fast as any other X5's when he drew a gun where it had been tucked away between his waistband and the small of his back. He pointed it at each of the four residents of TC in turn and decided to keep it aimed at Mole.

Mole gave the guy his meanest glare. "Who the hell are you?"

The guy raised his eyebrow. "What the hell are you?"

"Wiseguy, huh?" Mole took a good look at the guy, taking in his prominent features. Spiky, dark, red hair, blue, almost gray eyes and narrow lips, Slim built told Mole that the guy not made for infantry. Solo missions, which meant he was extremely well trained and also extremely dangerous, for a transgenic.

"Listen Kermit, I need to find X5-452. You know her?" the guy asked and then pointed the gun at an X6 who was trying to move closer. "Freeze, nimrod. Back the hell up." Then the gun was once again pointed at Mole.

"Kermit?" Mole's eyes narrowed in anger as someone said quiet "shit". "Did you just call me Kermit?"

"Sorry, it's Mr. Kermit, right?" A smirk appeared on the guy's lips. Then as quickly it had came it also disappeared. "I need to find 452. Where is she?"

"You're delusional if you think we gonna let you anywhere near her!" one of the X6s said, his finger itching to squeeze.

The baby made a whimpering noise and the guy glanced around. Basically there was nowhere to go. He was backed against a dark office, a group of transgenics surrounding him. He used his foot to draw the backpack behind him and then he moved to aim one of the light fixtures. Fraction of a second later sparks flew over them, giving him the distraction he needed to kick the backpack to the office, blur inside and slam the door shut. The blinds were shut just as quickly and the only indication that he was in there was the baby crying because of all the loud noises.

"You have to come out eventually!" Mole yelled.

"Just bring me 452!" was the only response they got.

oOo

The nurse came out of the OR2 they had set up for their infirmary building. Max turned around and once again saw their medics, doing everything they could to save the shot X5. Max was half hoping, as she was watching Alec's face, that he would open his eyes and yell "April fools".

"Max," the nurse, Katie, said and Max turned to look at her. "There are two bullet holes and a graze."

"But Dalton said-" Max started with a small voice.

"Dalton was wrong. But with the amount the bleeding it had I understand why he thought so. He was shot to his left shoulder, his right lower back and the graze was at his right thigh. We stopped the bleeding on his thigh and got the bullet out of his shoulder. Mattie's working on his lower back and he thinks the bullet missed all the major organs," Katie explained and Max took a deep breath to calm down.

"Is he gonna be..." Max couldn't finish the sentence. She was afraid to jinx it. Until now, she hadn't realized how big part of her life Alec really was.

"They're not finished yet but Mattie and the guys are confident that he's gonna be alright." Katie gave Max one last smile and then returned to the OR2.

The words "I'm always alright" rang through Max's mind. She had known Alec ever since he walked into her cell at Manticore, claiming to be her breeding partner and from there on he had be there for her, saving her ass one way or another. Sure, she had saved his in return but they weren't counting.

Now, six months after the incident at Jam Pony, you couldn't see her without him or other way around. They were each other's best friends and confidants, working side by side to keep TC alive and safe. And now Max had been in danger to lose her ... man.

'Oh God,' Max thought as she realized that she just might like Alec more than she should. She realized that somehow, during those six months - maybe even longer than that - Alec and Logan had switched places.

After the Jam Pony incident the transgenics had quickly found a safe way out of the Tc for the ordinaries. Sketchy and OC had said their tearful goodbyes to Max and Alec, promising to call and make them promise the same. Even Mole had gotten a unwanted hug from Sketchy. Logan hadn't wanted to go but had finally realized that he couldn't stay either. And what was the point? They had limited resources, he could do more outside and Max still had the virus. With longing looks they exchanged their quiet byes and that was it.

First Max was happy to see him on one of the TC's computer screens, ecstatic to have a video chat over nothing important while planning a raid with Alec had been frustrating at best. Now, when someone mentioned Logan and computer in a same sentence Max found herself hoping there wouldn't be a chat today with the ordinary. And planning a raid with Alec? It actually got her bouncing.

They weren't like that, one would say and she would agree. Max and Alec weren't in love. But losing Alec would crush Max like a trangenic would crush a bug. She would have to do something to that. She would have to distance herself from him. She couldn't have that kind of weakness in her, she was the leader of the Freak Nation! The closeness of them was... dangerous. But still, realizing that couldn't change her feelings. Alec was more to her than just a second in command and a friend.

"Is medium fella gonna be okay?" Joshua startled her and when Max turned around he gently put his hand on her shoulder, hoping to give a little comfort.

"They think so but it's still going to be long night, big fella," Max answered and pressed her face on his chest. Joshua hugged her back and they kept hugging as they sat down to wait for the surgery to be over.

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A/N: Oh, and after posting this chapter I noticed that I had my first review. A huge thank you to misDutch for such a wonderful review, you personally have made my day.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. RL got in the way and some parts were more difficult to write than I thought. But here it is. Enjoy.

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To say that Alec was annoyed was an understatement.

First, before they had even reached the warehouse, a tire blew out of the truck. Before they had a chance to change it some good samaritan stopped and wanted to help. Of course she had to see Connor's barcode and Alec had to use all the charm he had to convince this 50-year-old woman that they weren't going to do anything and that they weren't menace to the society. He was very good, Manticore certainly trained him well. He was just wondering how to get the image of her pinching his butt out of his mind.

When they got to the warehouse they found out that the intel was wrong. The hard way. Sure, the warehouse was low on the security and had only one camera but it also had motion sensors and silent alarms. They only got half the stuff they came for before they had to bail with cops right on their tails.

While trying to lose the cops they ran to some street gang wanting to steal the truck. Sure, a nice workout while teaching the X6s how not to hurt ordinaries too bad when engaged in hand-to-hand was always good. He just wished and hoped all his might that they were too proud to go to press and report how violent the transgenics are. They didn't need anymore bad press. Plus, his phone got smashed in the progress.

When finally reaching the tunnel they were already half an hour behind the schedule. They got all the plaster and paint out of the car and got the plywood out. At the tunnel opening they noticed that the plywood was six inches too wide. Fixit especially wanted the plywood and was great a bitching. She had learned it from Max.

After spending an hour locating a place to store the stolen plywood until they come up with a solution, they were almost two hours late. He just wanted to get to bed and sleep. Instead he was here, in storage unit 14 where everyone was giving him weird looks. Like there was something wrong with him.

"What?" he almost barked when a younger X6 was just plainly staring at him. The poor girl jumped and ran off scared. He'd apologize later.

"Alec?"

Alec turned around and found Fixit staring at him. He put his hands in front of him and jumped at the chance to explain before she started raving and ranting about those damn plywoods. "Listen, it wasn't my fault. The plywood was too wide, we had to come back without it. But we found a nice, dry place to store it and when we know what to do, we go back. I promise. So before you get-"

He was honestly surprised when she jumped on him and squeezed him with all her might. "You're okay. Oh thank god you're okay." She released him and gave him a confused look. "But how? You were shot! Three times!"

Alec drew her to aside "What are you talking about?"

"Some guy came in with you, straight to the command center. You were shot three times and you were holding a baby. The guy took the baby and you were taken to infirmary. I thought they were still operating." Fixit kept touching him, his shoulder, lower back and his face. She also kept looking at his thigh.

"Well, I'm not shot, none of us were." The paint and plaster was already gone, so were the extra paint rollers and trowels. "I'm going to the command center to find out what's going on. You... go build something."

oOo

The surgery was over. Four transgenics exited the OR2 before Mattie, an X5 with field medical training, came out looking pleased with himself. Max was up and ready for anything. Well, that was a lie. She was ready to hear anything but the 'we did everything we could'.

"Well?" she asked with a very quiet voice and he smiled.

"He'll be just fine as long as he'll let himself to heal properly. That means, no raids, no sparring-"

Max cut Mattie off. "I'll make sure he gets rest." Her face was serious and Mattie could have sworn that her eyes were moist with tears. "Can we see him?"

"The nurses are getting him ready to move to ward. You can see him there." Mattie smiled and walked away.

A minute later Max was following the nurses as they moved their latest patient to the Patient Ward. They got him settled and with a final check on the IV-line, they were gone. Max was sitting on the bed, staring at the face she had become so used to and running a finger across his face. When she reached to ran her fingers across his hair she noticed that it was shorter than last time.

'Maybe I just hadn't noticed that he cut it,' Max thought and took his hand, giving a little kiss to the palm of his hand. Joshua put a hand on her shoulder and for the first time in almost four hours they smiled at each other.

oOo

Alec walked to the command center with hurry. The jaws were dropping around him as he neared the nerve center of their dear city and he was sick of it. Why were they thinking that he was shot?

Mole and Dix were by a table waiting for something, anything to happen. To pass the time, Mole had begun to clean his guns while Dix concentrated on their surveillance grid. It still had pretty big holes, especially in the inner parts of the city.

Alec cleared his throat interrupting Mole assembling of a shotgun and Dix's muttering about feedbacks. They looked up at the same time.

A huge smile spread across Dix's face. "Alec, you're okay!" He then moved few feet closer but stopped, not knowing whether to hug or not.

Mole puffed out some cigar smoke. "Well, I'll be damned. I know you X5's heal fast but this is ridiculous." He then snapped the final part of the shotgun in place. "Care to explain, princess?"

"Explain what?" Alec looked around. Everyone was staring. "Fixit said that I was shot and took to surgery. But I'm fine! What's going on here?"

"Someone looking like you came in, shot to shoulder, back and thigh. He was with another X5 and a baby and was taken to surgery. Then his bozo friend decided that we were the enemy and locked himself and the baby in Luke's office!" Mole said and nodded towards the office that was guarded by five X6s and three X7s.

Luke came to Alec's side. "I don't mind that he's in there, I really don't use it." He gave Alec a cup of bad coffee. "All he has asked for is to speak to 452. Doesn't tell why or who he is, just that he needs to find 452."

Alec turned to Mole and Dix. "Where's Max? What she thinks of our guest. Why isn't she here to kick his ass and demand answers?"

"The fearless leader is in infirmary, worrying about you," Mole smirked. "Boy will she be pissed when she finds out you're just fine."

"I didn't have the time to tell her," Dalton said with a relieved voice as he walked to them. He was one of the X6s guarding the door. "I told her you were shot and in surgery and she took off saying Mole's in charge."

Mole gave Alec a grin when another X6 came in and gave him a cup of coffee with a small 'sir'. He was loving the power!

Something sparked in Alec's heart when he realized that Max was so worried about him that she was giving the reigns of TC to Mole. He shook his head, thinking that it was false hope, that she'd do that to any transgenic because they were 'all one big messed-up family'. He decided to just glare at Mole. "And why hasn't she been told yet?"

"I like being in charge." Mole was always brutally honest. "And if she knows about this situation, she'll come in to deal with it and to be in charge once again."

"Great..." Alec muttered. He left for a simple raid, which went wrong, and when he got back the city had a impostor, a stranger, a new baby, a power-hungry, gun loving transhuman, and the leader was... taking a day off? And he knew he had to sort it out. Just perfect!

"I'm going to find Max and tell her what's going on, like she should know already," Alec said, giving the final jab a little more power than usual, "and then we come back and get the bozo to talk."

oOo

Max stepped out of the infirmary building with Joshua. She wiped her eyes with a small laugh and Joshua drew her close. She hugged him back and gave him a huge smile. Max honestly couldn't remember when she had been so relieved before. Now she just had to find out what had happened during the raid.

"Alec," Joshua whispered and looked over her head. She was then gently pushed aside as the much larger man rushed past her.

Max watched in shock as Joshua was hugging Alec. But how? They just left him in the ward, he hadn't even woken up yet. She watched as Joshua came to same conclusion and slowly released him.

"How?" Joshua asked and kept touching Alec, checking for any wounds. "You really are okay? Then who is upstairs?"

"That's what we need to find out, big guy," Alec said with a tired sigh and they both turned to look at Max. "Hey, Maxie. I heard you were worried," Alec said with a smirk.

Max turned pale at his words. Not the teasing, cocky ones but the one that she had repeatedly told him not to call her. Maxie. If Alec was here then the look-a-like was... She didn't know whether to fear or hope it to be true.

Alec and Joshua saw Max to turn around and run back into the infirmary building. They ran after her, worried because of the look on her face, her eyes full of fear and hope.

When they finally caught up with her they found her in the patient ward, sitting on the bed occupied by Alec's look-a-like. She watched his face, her fingertips brushing lightly on his face and then she lifted his head just enough to see the back of his neck. She almost dropped his head back to the pillow, but caught herself.

She turned her eyes on Alec and Joshua and with a voice full of joy and eyes full of unshed tears, she said "493. It's Ben."


End file.
